Sharp County record., 1887-10-13
THE NATIONAL DRILL.

.-ost,pg Nav on the Drill Ground at
washinyton-The Battalion CONTEXT
signal Triumph for the Louisville Le-
o,on-The Individual Drill-Result OF IN :
Rrae Contest-Greenback for the VIM
ners.
U,su1vGToy, May 21-The fourth day
of the National drill was ushered IN 10
f,ir but threatening weather. when at
ton o'clock the Indianapolis Light lntan'
try filed into the grounds fully eight
thousand people greeted them with ap-
nIause. The company was put through
ihe manual. which it performed in very
edtable manner.
The indianapolis boys were followed Dy
The Alexandria Light Infantry.
The Jackson R fles came next, and were
well received.
The Molineaux Rifles, Iof Brooklyn, N.
V followed, and went through the dliter'
emf military movements in manner that
showed they We're well up in the tactics.
II was, however, reserved for the Bel
knap Rifles, of San Antonio, Tex to cap
ture the hearts of the large audience
This company went through the diffi ult
military movements with such precision
that each movement drew forth raptur-
ous applause. In the manual of arms TINS
company appeared to come the nearest OF
any to the apparent perfection eXhiDlCeu
" the Toledo Cadets yesterday.
The San Antonio rifles, next on the
programme, were we'll received, ana
were followed by the Crack Lomax
R fles, of Mobile. The latter company
did very well indeed, and surely crowded
the Belknaps and Toledo boys pretty
hard. but those who make military tao
tics study say that there appears to be
no doubt about the Ohioans still beng IN
the lead.
The Sheridan Rifles of New Hampshire
concluded the days complny contests.
They went through the m tnual in good
shape, and their marching was creditabe,
although not equal to that Of the LomaX
R fles, who gave decidedly the best exhi-
bition of the day.
The battalion competition then com
menced, and for the first time in the
history of the militia of this country,
three crack battalionS, the Fifth Rhode
Island, the Louisville Legion and the
Washington Light Infantry, were to con-
test for supremacy. The Rhode Island
battalion, Colonel Moran, drilled first, bat
owing to the fact that their Colonel
had been absent from his COM
mand for months, did not do themselves
justice, and will not get prize The
Louisville Legion, Majors Coen and Kelly
came next in superb uniforms, and in ten
minutes less than the schedule time, exc
cuted every movement of the programme,
with a precision and skill that elected
almost constant applause. Army officers
who inspected the Legion expressed them
selves as astonished at the perfect cOnfi-
ton of the uniforms, guns and equip
ments of this command
The Washington boys followed the
Legion, and presented fine appearance;
but at the start several cos 'lv errors on
the part of the officers SCENE to show
that they were not quite up to the K
lucky men. Their loss of distances, and
f.ilure to support arms after ploymen's,
soon told against them, and il looked 1T
the conclusion of the drill as though the
battallons would rank: Legion first,
Washingto second, Rhode Island third.
After the drill Colonel Moran of th>
Rhode Island battalion called at the head
quarters of the Legion and te ndered his
congratulations to them, as, in his
OPINION the winners of the first prize
Then followed the Individual drill Of
fifty men, not more than two men from
any one company. This was an interest
ing exhibition of the manual of arms. AS
fast as man was found in error he was
dropped from the ranks. Finally, when
the competitors were reduced to three
men, Herman g. Staacke, of the San
Antonio Rifles, was called to the front, the
first prize man; and the two others,
Charles T. Conrad, of the Washington
Light Infantry, and James B, Wagner, of
the Louisville Legion, continued the COM
petition. Conrad was the next to be called
to tn, front as the second prize man,
leaving Wagner the third p"iz9.
The closing event Of the day was an eX
hb tion drill by the LomaX Rifles and the
Toledo Cadets. Miss Mary c. Voss, the
sponsor of the Rifles, went on the field
and drilled the company in the manual.
Vociferous cheering greeted the fair com
mander, ard her command as her orders
were given and executed, with celebrity
and precision.
The attendance was larger than on any
previous day, and last night every seat in
the spacious inclosure was occupied,
while thousands of spectators thronged
the open space in front of it to witness
the Pyrorama.
The rifle contests at the Arsenal range
were concluded yesterday. The score of
the e ght best shots was as follows: